My Week In Barcelona – December 2011 | Adventures of The SIA Brat

The SIA Brat – In Barcelona, Spain

[Gaudí Galore]

One week in Barcelona is definitely not enough. I have a thing for architecture and Antoni Gaudí’s work delights me tremendously. In fact, he is the reason why I insisted on going to Barcelona when my mum and I decided to travel around Europe.

So I end up in Europe and of all of his work, I was only able to visit 3 – Casa Milà, Casa Batlló, and Park Güell. Yes, gasp in shock because one of Gaudí’s most famous creations was not mentioned, the Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família. My mum and I did go see the facade, but didn’t go inside because the queue to go in was LONG.

Still, I got the chance to enjoy his work up close and personal so I was super thrilled.

One of the places we went to was Casa Milà also known as La Pedrera. I had so much fun walking to the top floor of Casa Milà especially since it was the first building of Gaudí’s that we visited.

Known as La Pedrera because of its rough outer appearance, reminiscent of an open quarry, Casa Milà was commissioned by the industrialist Pere Milà i Camps and his wife, Rosario Segimon i Artells, the widow of a man from Reus who had made a fortune in the colonies, from Antoni Gaudí in 1906. The idea was to erect a building on a plot on the boundary of Barcelona and Gràcia, as a family home, but also with apartments for rent, at a time when the Barcelona Eixample had become the driving force behind the expansion of the city, which turned Passeig de Gràcia into the new bourgeois residential area.

– from lapedrera.com

My favourite stop in Barcelona has to be Park Güell. My mum and I spent an afternoon there just chilling and exploring the park. It was a little hard to find the entrance, but the search was worth it! I could stay all day at the park and truth be told I think there’s more of the park left to explore, but she was tired and though I didn’t admit it to her, so was I.

In 1900, Gaudí was given the assignment of designing Park Güell. Eusebi Güell understood better than any of his contemporaries the meaning of Gaudí’s architecture. The relationship between the two men was not simply that of an artist and his patron, but a real story of friendship.

– from parkguell.cat

When I told my mum that I wanted to visit another of Gaudí’s buildings she looked at me like I was crazy. But I was the one who planned the trip so she obliged. That and I kept telling her that Casa Batlló is vastly different from Casa Milà. Thankfully, she agreed with me and enjoyed her visit to Casa Batlló just as much as I did. And here are the photos to prove it.

Casa Batlló, built between 1904 and 1906 in the heart of the city, is the most emblematic work of the brilliant Catalan architect. Gaudí gave Casa Batlló a facade that is original, fantastical and full of imagination… Casa Batlló is a masterpiece of shape, colour and light…

– from casabatllo.es

I have a newfound love of mosaics because of Antoni Gaudí’s works and Barcelona is definitely on my list of places to go again. There’s still so much to see there so until I can get my butt back to Barcelona, I will have to contend with the lovely photographs I took there.

Buskers in Spain is the topic of my next entry in the My Week In Barcelona – December 2011 series so be sure to look out for it.

In the meantime, check out the comic strip La Rambla Prisoners I created using photographs I took in Barcelona’s La Rambla.

What do you think?
Have you ever heard of Antoni Gaudí? Are you fan of modernist architecture? Are there other Modernista artists or architects you admire and can recommend me? What about Gaudí’s work do you like most?